Nepal panel to recommend plans for nationalizing king's assets

[JURIST] The Nepalese government [official website] has created a panel to assemble a list of assets held by King Gyanendra [official profile; BBC profile] and seize property he obtained after ascending to the throne, a cabinet spokesman said Monday. Dilendra Prasad Badu said the three-member panel is tasked with detailing the king's assets and recommending a plan to nationalize the property and assets to a charity trust within one month. The king will only be able to retain those assets he acquired prior to taking the throne. King Gyanendra assumed the role as head of the monarchy in 2001 after his brother, King Birendra [CNN profile], Queen Aishwarya [BBC profile], and eight other members of his family were killed. Badu said the assets of King Birendra and his queen will also be nationalized.

Last year, Nepal's High Level Probe Commission [JURIST report] concluded [JURIST report] that King Gyanendra and some 200 members of his administration were responsible for the violent response to democracy protests [JURIST news archive] in April 2006 that left 22 dead and more than 5,000 wounded. The protests effectively ended King Gyanendra's rule of Nepal [JURIST news archive]. Reuters has more.

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